Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team - Monday 11 January

From Department of Health

Published on 11 January 2021

Last updated on 13 January 2021

• 1. Slides from press conference • 2. Hospital statistics • 3. Gender of patients • 4. Age range affected • 5. How COVID-19 is spreading • 6. Hospitalised cases by age group • 7. Cases by county

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 8 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 2,352 COVID-19 related deaths in .

As of midnight Sunday 10 January, the HPSC has been notified of 4,929 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There has now been a total of 152,539* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

(*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 3 confirmed cases. The figure of 152,539 confirmed cases reflects this.)

Of the cases notified today:

• 2,250 are men and 2,641 are women • 59% are under 45 years of age • the median age is 39 years old • 1,513 in Dublin, 695 in Cork, 320 in Limerick, 305 in Wexford, 225 in Galway and the remaining 1,871 cases are spread across all other counties

As of 2pm today, 1,582 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 146 are in ICU. There have been 156 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr , Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said:

"While we are seeing the first glimmer of hope in respect of our daily case figures and positivity rates, the situation in hospitals and ICUs around the country continues to worsen day on day. We know that hospitalisations occur some weeks after a confirmed case is notified, and mortality after that again. That means we are unfortunately set for a period of time where the situation in our hospitals gets worse before it gets better.

"The best way forward now is for all of us to stay at home. Staying at home and cutting your contacts right down to only those in your immediate household is the one vital way we will protect our healthcare system as it struggles with the burdens brought on by this surge in COVID-19 infections."

Dr Michael Power, HSE Clinical Lead for Intensive Care, said:

"Over the past weeks, we have seen a swift and sharp spike in admissions into critical care units across the country. As of this morning, we have 146 people sadly in ICU. This is nearing the springtime peak of 155 people in critical care. The potential long-term impacts on these patients’ health is stark and significant. ICUs are not where we want anyone to be. They are our very last line of defence against COVID-19. The best way we can protect our ICU capacity and those that work in them is to stay at home."

Professor , Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said:

"The alarming level of disease is unprecedented in terms of our experience of the levels of COVID-19 in the community. We are seeing numbers of cases per day, and numbers in hospital, that we just could not have comprehended prior to Christmas. The tools to address this accelerated growth rate are in our hands and we know from experience how we can significantly suppress transmission of the virus.

"We are beginning to see the first signs of the impact of the latest public health measures, with test positivity falling and case numbers starting to stabilise, but this will only continue if every one of us is committed to following the public health advice to stay at home and work from home as much as possible. This is vital in order to make significant headway over the next 7 days and to reduce the pressure on our health services and healthcare colleagues."

Dr , Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory said:

"Further testing of COVID-19 samples indicates that the UK variant continues to account for an increasing number of cases– more than 40% of the positive cases tested in the last 7 days can be traced back to this variant. The greater risk of infection posed by this new variant increases the risk of transmission of the disease in the community. Now, more than ever, there is an urgent need for vigilance in our individual response to the disease, which is spread through close proximity to others. This virus cannot spread when households do not mix together, when social gatherings do not occur and when people stay at home for all but essential reasons."

Professor Karina Butler, Chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee said:

"The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine programme is underway. The recent authorisation of the 2nd COVID-19 vaccine for Europe, Moderna, and the latest news on the Astra Zeneca approval process gives us cause for hope for rapid community vaccination against COVID-19 in coming months. Every time we wash our hands, wear a face covering and keep a two metre distance from others, we are protecting the most vulnerable in our society and our frontline healthcare workers and giving all of us much needed additional time for more vaccines to be administered."

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID- 19 in the community.

ENDS

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 10 January 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

Today’s Cases 14-Day incidence rate per New Cases during last County (to midnight 100,000 population (14 days to 14 days (14 days to 10/1/21) midnight 10/1/21) midnight 10/1/21) Ireland 4,929 1378.7 65,650 Monaghan 160 2687.9 1,650 Louth 205 2319.9 2,990 Limerick 320 2032.3 3,961 Waterford 68 1667.3 1,937 Wexford 305 1641.0 2,457 Dublin 1,513 1568.0 21,127 Cavan 37 1495.2 1,139 Donegal 157 1493.8 2,378 Carlow 78 1473.7 839 Cork 695 1457.3 7,911 Clare 114 1427.4 1,696 Mayo 185 1303.4 1,701 Kilkenny 39 1194.2 1,185 Meath 124 1179.2 2,300 Sligo 22 1147.5 752 Kerry 66 1095.4 1,618 Kildare 154 1029.2 2,290 Offaly 33 933.8 728 Longford 7 917.5 375 Laois 63 911.5 772 Tipperary 127 860.5 1,373 Roscommon 72 821.1 530 Galway 225 815.7 2,105 Westmeath 49 732.2 650 Leitrim 5 708.4 227 Wicklow 106 673.3 959 • the 7-day incidence is 935.6 • the 5-day moving average is 6,283 Slides from press conference

Slides from the NPHET press briefing - Monday 11 January

Slides shown at the NPHET press conference by Prof. Philip Nolan on Monday 11 January.

Download Hospital statistics

Total number of cases 147,610 Total number hospitalised 7,310 Total number admitted to ICU 761 Total number of deaths 2,091 Total number of healthcare workers 13,566 Number clusters notified 10,988 Cases associated with clusters 46,340 Median age 38

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January. Gender of patients

Gender Number of cases Male 70,167 Female 77,210 Unknown 233 Total 147,610

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January. Age range affected

Age range Number of cases 0 - 4 3,675 5 - 14 9,099 15 - 24 27,146 25 - 34 26,870 35 - 44 23,326 45 - 54 22,045 55 - 64 16,814 65 - 74 8,234 75 - 84 5,849 85+ 4,513 Unknown 39

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January. How COVID-19 is spreading

Transmission classification % Community transmission 50.7 Close contact with confirmed case 39.3 Travel abroad 0.8 Unknown 9.3

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January.

Note:

When a person tests positive for COVID-19 but hasn't been abroad or had a known contact with another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as community transmission.

In the event that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 can be linked to another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as close contact. Hospitalised cases by age group

Age range Number of cases 0 - 4 78 5 - 14 70 15 - 24 285 25 - 34 493 35 - 44 586 45 - 54 886 55 - 64 1,017 65 - 74 1,311 75 - 84 1,579 85+ 1,003 Unknown 2

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January. Cases by county

County Number of cases Carlow 1,608 Cavan 3,544 Clare 3,271 Cork 14,680 Donegal 6,216 Dublin 51,492 Galway 5,014 Kerry 3,303 Kildare 6,748 Kilkenny 2,628 Laois 1,941 Leitrim 521 Limerick 7,306 Longford 1,111 Louth 5,586 Mayo 3,272 Meath 6,077 Monaghan 3,046 Offaly 1,976 Roscommon 1,499 Sligo 1,643 Tipperary 3,052 Waterford 3,173 Westmeath 2,257 Wexford 3,932 Wicklow 2,714

*All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 9 January.